John Corona: Meet Nyandarua man who was named corona in the 1980s

- John Corona Wanyoike has been living in Kinangop, Nyandarua county where he is popularly known as Corona

- He coined his name Corona and used it as his trademark together with his brother when they both formed Kinangop Corona Boys band

- Corona said he used the name because it means light in astronomy, and he wanted to illuminate Kinagop with his music

- However, the outbreak of coronavirus made his friends question why his name, which they had known from the 80s, connoted to a deadly virus

Many heard the name corona for the first time in late 2019 when the coronavirus rocked the world but Kinangop residents in Nyandarua county have known and used the name since the 1980s when John Wanyoike popularly known as Corona moved into their locality.

The 60-year-old artist and musician started using the name Corona as his trademark together with his brother when they formed the Kinangop Corona Boys Band.

Speaking to NTV, John Corona said he coined the name back in the day to mean light as used in astronomy.

He said when he started living in Kinangop, it was a very dark place and he wanted his music to illuminate the area.

"Everybody, even my children are known as Corona. It reached a point that I decided to change the spelling from Corona to Korona because I realised the children were misspellings it as Shorona but ideally, the original name was and is Corona," he said.